Through The Firewall

Chapter 1: A Crazy Grandmother and a Curse

"Hello?" I called out to the empty room.

"Is anyone in here? Grandmother Alice? Mom?" I stepped into the dark sitting room and flipped the lights on, then looked around. Where could my mom and grandma have gone? I flicked the light switch to 'Off', then jumped as a raspy voice behind me croaked,

"What are you doing down here young lady?" It was my Grandmother, Alice. I sighed in relief, I had been looking for her and my mom just now, and now I just needed to know where mom was.

"Grandmother, do you know where my mom is?"

"Oh, is that you Dinah? Dear me, you look exactly like your mother when she was your age!"

"Yes Grandmother, you've told me that almost 50 times already..." I rolled my eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes like that young lady, it makes people feel as if you are going to faint from boredom!" she scolded me. I yawned and checked my watch, it was almost four a.m. As I yawned, my brain woke up and reminded me where mom was. My little brother Timmy had spent the summer at my dad's place in California while I moved in with mom and grandma in Rhode Island.

Mom had left early in the morning to meet him at the airport. Sometimes I really got annoyed by the whole 'divorced' parent set-up; I had tons of friends and a great life in Seattle, Washington. Then my mom, Caroline, had a fight with my dad, Matt, and next thing you know Timmy's spending the summer with dad while me and mom are living with crazy, but rich, grandma Alice in the mini state of Rhode Island!

I went up to my room and turned on my computer, then went to slide my favorite Evanescence CD into my stereo. I threw myself onto my huge new canopy bed and moped over my parents, my brother, my grandma, my life! To be blunt, my life officially sucked! My mom was already going out with my new high school's English teacher, of all subjects! My dad had already gotten over us and was married to some ditzy blonde Barbie chick 'Jennifer'; I mean come on, living in Hollywood, married to a blonde named Jennifer? Anyone else in here sense a mid-life crisis?

Then to top it off, I'm named after Alice's cat, Dinah, from Alice in Wonderland and my crazy grandmother keeps telling me that our family is actually descended from Alice! Also that the Red Queen cursed our family so that until, "...a female of Alice's blood, names of Alice or Dinah the feline companion, makes peace between the Land of Wonder and the World of Reality, your family shall not be released from my spell." Apparently this spell means that if you're descended from Alice herself, because she escaped the Red Queen after insulting her, and if you're named either Alice or Dinah (Dinah was Alice's best friend when she was young) you'll be given a chance on your 16th birthday to apologize in some way to the Red Queen's descendants and lift the 'curse'.

My grandmother believed in all this though, and since my 16th birthday was today, she had ordered me to stay in my room, after she had removed all my mirrors. She believed that mirrors were the only way for Wonderland to create a portal, but honestly, I thought if the Red Queen was serious, she'd find other ways to make a portal. I had hidden one 'portal' though, and got it out so I could brush my hair. I thought that if grandma was right about the curse, I'd be in serious trouble.

I had waist-long coal black hair, and cat like golden-green eyes. My skin was very pale and almost vampiric; I had a certain 'air' around me that had reminded my old friends of our feline friends. I brushed my hair back into a ponytail and sat down at my computer. One thing I loved to do was write, fantasy tales about dragons and headstrong princesses that saved the prince, added humor, and made everything right.

As I sat down today though, I heard an unusual "Bleep...Zzzzzz" sound come from the monitor. I was instantly hit by a wave of anxiety, what would I do without my computer, my connection to my old friends? But after it ended, and after I had waited a few minutes, everything seemed normal. So I went ahead and started typing in my blog. As soon as I typed in my name though, I felt an odd electric kind of feeling, the feeling you get when you meet an old friend, or rival! All of a sudden my mind seemed to overload, and I collapsed.